Tuesday, January 29, 2013

A Small Dose of Red Tide

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Many species of fish litter the beach due to red tide in Sarasota, FL

Walking back across the street from the beach, my eyes hurt
so much that I could barely open my eyes.I was at the beach maybe 20 minutes, but probably less.Red tide was hitting the area and wind
was stirring the water and blowing the neurotoxin towards the beach.

A Silver Grunt among seaweed stranded on the dry beach.

The last few days, I noticed floating
dead fish in the waters.Now, the
beach is littered with multiple species of dead fish. Once home from the beach,
I rinsed my eyes out with water, then sat on the ground and cried because it
hurt so much.Eventually I tracked
down some eye drops so I could function once again.

A pin fish dead on the beach due to red tide.

A large algae bloom causes red tide.Under the right conditions, such as
warm temperatures and coast upwelling, the algae multiply.There are a variety of species that can
cause algae blooms, but in these Florida waters, it is primarily caused by
Karenia brevis, a type of dinoflagellate.This is one example of a species that actually produce toxins. Luckily
for humans the red tide organism, Kareneva brevis, is not deadly but it could
cause respiratory distress and irritated eyes.

Spade Fish victim to red tide.

Red tide is a concern for many reasons.The most obvious one is the killing of
fish. Millions of fish have died due to this harmful algae bloom. Many species
are affected and it’s sad to walk down the beach and see so much death.It feels so ominous.

Lane Snapper with its last gasp for oxygen frozen in time.

These fish deaths also affect those species
that rely on them as a food source, such as dolphins.In 2004, 107 dolphins died in Florida’s panhandle due to
high levels of brevetoxins (the toxin found in Karenia brevis) from eating
fish.Manatees, birds and sea
turtles can also die directly due to these toxins.

Gafftopsail Catfish dead in the surf on Lido Key.

There is controversy around the cause of red tides. Some
people believe that humans contribute to red tides so we harbor some
blame.Nitrogen and phosphorus,
chemicals often found in fertilizers, can allow algae blooms to grown faster.
According to NOAA, the occurrence of harmful algae blooms has been
increasing.

A Cow Fish loses it's vibrant color after dying due to red tide.

This time, the red tide was short lived and the next day I
could walk on the beach without coming home crying.Other years the red tide has stayed around for months and
killed countless animals and effected sea life populations.It was interesting to see the effects,
but I am glad it is now gone.

A Sand Seatrout is not very distinguishable about dying from red tide.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

Tough to get info on the Red Tide, which is understandable given the importance of tourism to the economy. But for a tourist, seasonal resident or full time local having access to info may help. We put together a simple site with hard to find links and a news feed: http://bit.ly/wClIyc